Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
Bone-in thighs braise 4 hours on low in a tomato-red wine sauce with peppers, olives, and capers — a hunter-style Italian stew that comes together while you're at work.
slow-cooker Timer
Set for 240 mins @ Low (200°F / 93°C)
Ingredients
Base recipe calibrated for 6 adults.
Get to the Point
Sear 8 seasoned bone-in thighs skin-side down 4 min in a hot skillet; transfer to slow cooker.
Sauté onion, 2 bell peppers, 4 garlic cloves; deglaze with 1 cup red wine, reduce 3 min.
Add 28 oz crushed San Marzano tomatoes, oregano, olives, capers; pour over thighs.
Slow cook LOW 4 hours until thighs read 175°F; skim fat, stir in parsley, serve.
Step-by-Step Guided Instructions
Pat 8 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs dry. Season with 1.5 tsp kosher salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high. Sear thighs skin-side down 4 minutes until deep golden. Transfer to the slow cooker skin-side UP.
The skin comes off the thigh at the table — but the sear is what gives the whole sauce its browned depth. This step is a five-minute investment that changes the finished dish.
In the same skillet with the rendered fat, add 1 diced onion and 2 sliced bell peppers (one red, one yellow). Cook 5 minutes until softened. Add 4 minced garlic cloves and 1 tsp red pepper flakes; stir 30 seconds.
Cook the aromatics in the chicken fat — this is a free flavor pass. Do not add fresh oil unless the pan looks dry.
Pour 1 cup dry red wine (Chianti or similar) into the skillet and scrape every browned bit from the bottom. Simmer 3 minutes until the wine reduces by half and the raw alcohol scent is gone.
Reduce the wine now, not in the slow cooker. Slow cookers can't boil off alcohol — it stays sharp and grabby in the finished sauce.
Stir in 28 oz crushed San Marzano tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp dried oregano, and 1 tsp dried basil. Bring to a simmer, then pour the entire skillet contents over the chicken in the slow cooker.
San Marzano tomatoes are worth the extra $2 — they are less acidic and sweeter than generic canned tomatoes, and they save you from adding sugar to balance the sauce.
Scatter 1/2 cup pitted Castelvetrano olives (or Kalamata) and 2 tbsp capers over the top. Do not stir — let the slow cooker mix as it goes. Cover with the lid.
Olives and capers go in whole, not chopped — 4 hours of slow cooking softens them without turning them to paste. Chopped, they disappear.
Cook on LOW for 4 hours (or HIGH for 2.5 hours) until the thighs read 175°F+ at the joint. Skim any fat from the surface with a spoon. Stir in 3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley just before serving.
Dark meat is done at 165°F but tender at 175°F. Extra time on low doesn't dry thighs out — it renders the connective tissue further.
Cacciatore means 'hunter's style' — the whole point is a rustic braise from what's in the pantry. Substitutions are fine: swap peppers for mushrooms, olives for artichokes, red wine for white. Don't skip the tomato paste, though — it's the umami anchor.
Pull chicken off the bones and shred into the sauce. Serve over buttered orzo or angel hair with olives and capers picked out onto adult plates before ladling.
- Creamy polenta or buttered egg noodles
- Crusty ciabatta for sauce mopping
- Simple arugula salad with olive oil and lemon
Reheat covered in a 325°F oven for 25 minutes or on the stovetop over medium-low, adding 1/4 cup water if the sauce has tightened too much overnight. Skin will not re-crisp — pull it off before reheat.